Gun Control Group Sponsors Super Bowl Ad

Gun Control Group Sponsors Super Bowl Ad

Gun Control Group Founded by Bloomberg Sponsors Super Bowl Ad

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a gun control group founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is putting down lots of cash to make sure lawmakers hear its message demanding universal background checks for all firearm sales by putting it in front of the region's Super Bowl audience. The 30-second spot will air in the Washington area during the third-quarter break of the game between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers, reports the Hill.

Titled “It’s Time,” the ad shows children as America, the Beautiful plays in the background. One child then points out the National Rifle Association used to support increasing background checks before cutting to footage of NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre testifying before Congress in 1999. “We think it’s reasonable to provide mandatory instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show, no loopholes anywhere for anyone,” LaPierre says in the clip.

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Officials refused to say how much the group spent to air the ad, but a Bloomberg official tells the Associated Press it was in the six figures.

Daniel Politi has been contributing to Slate since 2004 and wrote the Today’s Papers column from 2006 to 2009. Follow him on Twitter.